Christianity
' (second from the right), ''Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by Milton and Inferno by Dante ]] Christianity was a Human religion based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth), born from the Virgin Mary. The prophets of the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible like Methuselah, Solomon, Lazarus, and Saint Paul and many saints like Saint Andrew, Saint Émilion, and Saint Moritz also inspired the teaching of the Christian religion. Christianity was a monotheistic religion, stating that there was one God who created the universe. This one God, however, was both a unity and a trinity. There were three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who although distinct in person-hood share one and the same God-hood. Most images of the Christian God depicted a wise old man, seen as the universal father figure (indeed, God was often called "God the Father"), or Jesus Christ, who is God the Son incarnate as man, or the Holy Spirit with the image of a dove or as fire. In 2287, the entity of Sha Ka Ree assumed this form of the Christian God so as to "better suit the expectations" of the USS Enterprise team who had encountered it. ( ) The Virgin Mary and Saint Anne were depicted in the Leonardo da Vinci painting The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, which was found among the relics in Kathryn Janeway's da Vinci holodeck program. ( ) Related belief systems included Judaism and the teachings of Plato. ( ) Christianity was one of the major religions on Earth and was the origin of several well-known beliefs such as the concept of Heaven, Hell, angels, and the Devil. ( ) Christianity was a major religion in the 21st century and its influences were still felt into the 23rd and 24th centuries – most notably the use of Christian elements in weddings and holiday celebrations like Christmas. ( ; ; ) In predominate Christian beliefs, Hell was the underworld where the dead went, to suffer eternally alongside (not under the rule of) the Devil and his demons. It was believed that people would be sent here after their death if they did not accept Jesus as savior and substitutionary sacrifice to atone for their sins against God. During his captivity on Talos IV, Captain Christopher Pike was subjected to an illusion of Hell when he refused to cooperate with his Talosian jailers. ( ) Holy writings The main written work used by Christians was the Bible. The name of the Genesis Device was taken from the Christian Bible (the Book of Genesis) which described the beginnings of life on Earth. ( ) A well-known precept from the Bible was "Love your neighbor." ( ) Parts of the Bible described the end of the world; however, Jean-Luc Picard seemed to indicate a strong distaste for apocalyptic traditions, first when discussing his personal beliefs about the afterlife, ( ) and again when he was briefly taken by the Mintakans to be their ancient god. ( ) In a vision sent to Benjamin Sisko by the Prophets, his father Joseph Sisko took the role of a 1950s preacher. Although Benjamin had never previously heard his father quote from the Bible, after he told his father about his experience the elder Sisko recited, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." ( ) In 2370, Beverly Crusher attended her grandmother Felisa Howard's funeral on Caldos. The colony leader, Maturin, performed traditional burial rites and used the expression "ashes to ashes and dust to dust." ( ) Flint possessed a Gutenberg Bible, a version of the Bible mass-produced during the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg, among his collection of extremely rare books. ( ) Berlinghoff Rasmussen compared being close to Data to examining a rare Gutenberg Bible. ( ) Samuel T. Cogley had a Bible in his library in 2267. ( ) A copy of the Holy Bible was among the small collection of books found aboard the . ( ) The ideas from the Bible were used in many sayings and written literature. Joseph Sisko often told Benjamin that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." ( ) In the 17th century, John Milton of Earth wrote in his poem Paradise Lost that "It is better to rule in Hell than serve in heaven." ( ) An angel is a figure from Christian mythology described as a messenger of God. In a holographic simulation Lord Byron said to Gandhi that "It is said the angels themselves take pleasure in their bodies of light." ( ) In 2267, Dr. McCoy, expressing frustration at the restrictions of the Prime Directive, joked that he would like to beam down to a primitive planet and say, "Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel!" ( ) In 2375, Jack claimed that his laws of physics-bending machine "could clip the wings of an angel dancing on the head of a pin." ( ) Holy places and rituals Christians practiced their religion in churches and chapels. In the 2150s, Dr. Phlox of the recalled attending a Mass at Saint Peter's Square in Rome, the historic headquarters of Catholic Christianity. ( ) A century later, at her wedding, phaser specialist Angela Martine genuflected toward the altar of the ship's chapel, ( ) and another century later the hologram of Leonardo da Vinci asked Kathryn Janeway if she would like to pray with him in Santa Croce church. ( ) took place in a chapel with an altar. The chapel wall behind Captain Kirk had at least two symbols on it, one of them looking somewhat like a cross, a common symbol used by Christianity. The other is not associated with any known religion.}} During a trip back to the year 1930, James T. Kirk made reference to an American missionary living in China. ( ) Christians sang and played music. Despite Montgomery Scott's disbelief in gods, he played a Christian hymn traditionally associated with Scottish funerals, Amazing Grace, on the bagpipes at Spock's funeral in 2285. ( ; ) In 2376, The Doctor portrayed a Catholic priest in Tom Paris's Fair Haven holoprogram, a simulation of a 19th century Irish village. ( ) During an appearance to the crew of the , Q pretended he was a Franciscan monk. ( ) The Christian religion had many holidays; one called Christmas was experienced by Captain Jean-Luc Picard during his interrogation by Gul Madred, and during his time spent in the Nexus, his visions included one of a traditional Christmas tree. ( ; ) Before that, Christmas parties were celebrated on the , ( ) and another called Carnival, a traditional celebration before the beginning of the Catholic season of Lent, still celebrated during the 24th century. ( ) When Jake Sisko ran into a wounded soldier on Ajilon Prime, the soldier asked that he made sure that he died with his eyes directed toward sky. ( ) Children of the Son In a remarkable example of Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development, a religion very similar to early christianity emerged on the planet 892-IV, called the Children of the Son. They focused on the teachings of the Son, which was analogous to Christ. ( ) External links * * de:Christentum fr:Christianisme nl:Christendom Category:Earth Category:Religions